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BOARD   OF  EDUCATION 


GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN 
CHTTRCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


y 


EDITED  BY 

JOHN  BRECKINRIDGE,  A.M.  Cork.  Sec. 


"  Let  not  liim  that  girileth  on  his  hai-nes8,  boast  liimself  as  he  that 

pultfth  it  oft"."— 1  Kings,  xx.  11. 
'•'■  The  harvest  tiiily  is  ])lenteous,  but  the  labourers  are  few  ;  jiray 

ye,  therefore,  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  will  send  forth 

labourers  into  his  harvest."— Ma«/(.  ix.  87,  38. 


VOL.  I. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED    BY    RUSSELL    AND    MART1E.\. 

1833. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1832,  by  RUS- 
SELL &  MARTIEN,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Eastern  Dis- 
trict of  Pennsylvania. 


PREFACE. 

The  following  work  is  designed  by  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation to  be  the  first  in  a  series  of  Annual  Mementos, 
especially  addressed  to  the  candidates  for  the  sacred 
office,  under  the  care  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The 
very  interesting  and  responsible  relation  in  v\fhich  the 
Board  stands,  to  a  great  number*  (and  that  continually 
increasing,)  of  youth,  looking  to  the  most  important  of  all 
possible  pursuits,  calls  for  frequent  and  faithful  inter- 
course with  them.  In  addition,  therefore,  to  the  private 
correspondence  and  pastoral  supervision  of  the  Corres- 
ponding Secretary  and  General  Agent,  it  has  been 
thought  desirable  to  put  into  their  hands,  from  year  to 
year,  a  work  prepared  for  their  use,  and  adapted  to 
their  circumstances,  which  should  be  periodical,  and  yet 
not  fugitive ;  and  be,  if  possible,  worthy  to  become  the 
counsellor  of  their  youth,  and  the  companion  of  their  de- 
votional hours. 

In  performing  this  service,  in  the  name  and  by  the 
authority  of  the  Board,  the  Editor  has  endeavoured  to 
secure  such  matter,  both  as  to  subjects  and  quality,  as 
was  best  fitted  to  the  peculiar  occupations  and  great  ob- 
jects  of  those  who  are  in  a  course  of  preparation  for  the 
work  of  the  Ministry.  Most  of  the  Essays  are  original; 
and  he  hopes  the  Christian  public  will  be  disposed  to  unite 
with  him  in  felicitating  the  youth  addressed,  on  the  excel. 

*  Between  3  and  400. 


IV  PREFACE. 

lence  of  the  contributions.  Ifourend  shall  in  any  just  mea- 
sure have  been  attained,  then,  the  additional  hope  will  be 
cherished,  that  the  influence  of  this  little  manual  will  not 
be  restricted  to  our  own  students,  but  extend  to  those 
engaged  in  preparing  for  the  same  office  in  other  deno- 
rainations  of  Christians,  and  under  the  care  of  kindred 
institutions,  and  not  be  without  its  use  to  young  Minis- 
ters  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  private  Christians. 

In  what  is  called  the  dress  of  the  work,  our  object  has 
been  to  make  it  interesting,  wuthout  being  costly ;  and  to 
provoke  the  possessors  to  preserve  it.  The  embellish- 
ments consist  of  a  frontispiece,  whose  motto  and  de- 
vice are  proper  to  a  Christian  minister ;  and  of  the  mi- 
niature-portraits of  those  whose  names  are  dear  to  the 
Church.  The  face  of  the  Rev.  John  H.  Rice,  D.D., 
accompanied  by  a  brief  biography,  was  intended  to  have 
been  inserted  in  this  volume  ;  but  we  failed  to  se- 
cure them  in  time  for  publication.  The  Rev.  Sylvester 
Lamed  w^ill  not,  we  are  persuaded,  be  an  unacceptable 
substitute.  Of  the  likeness,  in  each  case,  the  public  must 
judge.  We  will  only  say  that  we  have  done  what  we 
could  to  make  them  faithful. 

We  dedicate  this  work  to  the  sons  of  the  Church  who 
are  preparing  for  the  sacred  desk :  we  commend  it  to  the 
providence  of  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church. 

By  order  of  the  Board, 

JOHN  BRECKINRIDGE,  Corr.  Sec. 

Philadelphia,  Office  of  Board  of  Education,  ) 
November  1st,  1832.  \ 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS. 


My  Dear  Youth, 

The  following-  work  has  been  published  through  the 
kind  care  of  the  Board  of  Education,  with  special  refer- 
ence to  yourselves,  and  is  now  affectionately  sent  forth 
to  you,  with  the  sincere  desire  that  it  may  be  made  emi- 
nently useful  in  its  influence  on  your  understandings, 
hearts,  and  lives. 

The  character  of  the  respected  contributors  to  tliis 
volume,  would  alone  guarantee  to  you  valuable  commu- 
nications; the  subjects  discussed  are  highly  appropriate 
to  your  present  circumstances;  and  the  contents,  we 
cannot  doubt,  will  be  found  worthy  to  be  repeatedly 
perused,  and  deeply  pondered. 

It  was  our  wish  to  do  no  more  than  compile  this 
little  volume,  and  put  it  into  your  hands  with  our  un- 
qualified recommendation.  And  in  reference  to  the 
topics  discussed  in  it,  we  feel  that  little  more  is  neces- 
sary. 

But  there  are  several  subjects  of  great  importance  and 

practical  utility,  which  are  not  embraced  in  this  work; 

and  some  also  which  cannot  well  be  reduced  to  order  in 

any  single  essay ;  and  others  still,  whose  notice  properly 

a2 


6  INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS. 

belongs  to  the  official  relation  which  we  sustain  to  the 
candidates  of  the  Board.  To  some  of  these  your  candid 
and  serious  attention  is  now  invited. 

In  these  remarks  it  is  presupposed  that  you  profess  to 
know,  and  in  the  judgment  of  truth  do  experimentally 
know,  the  religion  of  Christ.  Without  that  great  and 
gracious  change  by  which  a  man  is  constituted  a  Chris- 
tian, a  new  creature  in  Christ,  you  will  at  best  be  blind 
leaders  of  the  blind,  and  it  will  have  been  well  for  you, 
and  perhaps  for  many  others  ruined  by  your  influence, 
that  you  had  never  been  born !  And  yet  it  is  by  no 
means  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  every  candidate  for 
tlie  ministry,  or  that  every  minister  of  Christ  is  a  rege- 
nerated man.  The  history  of  the  Church  of  God  speaks, 
alas,  far  another  language ;  and  the  awfiil  results  of  the 
judgment-day  will  but  too  fully  confirm  the  melancholy 
truth,  that  from  the  height  of  the  most  solemn  and  pri- 
vileged of  all  human  stations,  many  a  graceless  and 
unfaithful  minister  has  been  precipitated  into  eternal 
perdition. 

It  is  proper  that  we  should  point  you,  1.  To  the  temp- 
tations to  which  you  are  exposed,  and  against  which  we 
would  affectionately  guard  you. 

There  are  some  of  these  to  which  you  are  exposed,  in 
common  with  other  professors  of  the  religion  of  Christ. 
We  cannot  here  dwell  on  them.  There  are  others, 
which  are  peculiar  to  your  present  circumstances,  and 
to  the  office  to  which  you  aspire. 

In  enumerating  a  few  of  these  temptations  which  we 
have  called  peculiar,  we  first  mention.  The  love  ofpopu- 


IXTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS.  7 

lav  applause.  The  most  commanding  form,  perhaps,  of 
man's  influence  on  man,  is  found  in  popular  eloquence. 
The  power,  and  corresponding  praise  of  such  an  endow- 
ment, make  men  greatly  covetous  of  its  possession,  and 
ambitious  to  attain  to  the  reputation  it  confers.  These 
remarks  are  peculiarly  applicable  to  our  own  country, 
■which  is,  above  all  others,  distinguislied  by  an  enthusias- 
tic admiration  of  eloquent  public  speaking. 

Now  it  has  pleased  an  infinitely  wise  God,  that  public 
speaking  should  be  the  great  channel  of  communication 
for  his  Gospel  to  the  souls  of  men.  "  Faith  comes  by 
hearing."  The  divine  method  of  extending  Christianity 
through  the  world,  is  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  We 
need  not  here  delay  to  speak  of  the  consummate  wisdom 
and  utility  of  this  institution  in  its  proper  use.  The 
point  of  our  remark  is,  that  this  office,  in  the  exercise  of 
its  most  important  and,  indeed,  essential  functions, 
affords  a  very  dangerous  temptation  to  ambitious  minds. 
For  whatever  may  be  said  of  eloquence  at  large,  may  by 
eminence  be  applied  to  the  eloquence  of  the  pulpit.  The 
tenderness  and  majesty,  the  sacredness  and  solemnity  of 
the  subjects  blended  in  the  religion  of  Christ,  present  an 
unequalled  theatre  for  the  display  of  the  most  sublime 
and  touching  eloquence.  While,  therefore,  the  man  of 
God  will  use  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  for  the  salva- 
tion of  souls  and  the  glory  of  the  Saviour,  men  of  corrupt 
minds,  covetous  of  human  glory,  may  be  expected  (espe- 
cially when  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  in  so  great 
demand)  to  seek  the  sacred  office  from  unhallowed  am- 
bition, or  other  motives  equally  detestable.     While  no- 


8  INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS. 

thing  more  entirely  strips  the  work  of  the  ministry  of  all 
its  efficiency,  nothing  can  be  more  offensive  to  a  holy 
God.  The  history  and  fate  of  Herod,  like  a  beacon  on 
the  brow  of  ruin,  warns  off  unhallowed  hands  from  this 
delightful  yet  awful  work.  He,  on  a  set  day,  made  an 
oration  unto  the  people:  and  the  people  gave  a  shout, 
saying,  it  is  the  voice  of  a  God  and  not  of  a  man.  And 
immediately  the  angel  of  the  Lord  smote  him  because 
he  gave  not  the  glory  to  God.  Then  let  me  guard  you, 
in  your  first  step  towards  the  holy  office,  against  this 
master-temptation,  and  peculiar  sin  of  ministers  of  the 
Gospel.  Seek  to  stain  your  glorj'',  and  humble  your 
pride  ;  to  give  the  glory  to  the  LfOrd ;  to  show  forth  his 
praises,  and  not  5"our  own  ;  and  when  you  glory,  glory 
in  the  cross  !* 


*  I  once  knew  a  young  man  of  unusual  talents  for  public  speak- 
ing, who  entered  the  ministry  under  the  following  circumstances. 
He  had  selected  the  bar  as  the  most  appropriate  place  for  the  dis- 
play of  his  powers.  But  just  then  having  witnessed  the  popular- 
ity of  a  young  clergyman,  who  was  followed  by  great  crowds  on 
account  of  his  commanding  eloquence,  he  resolved,  in  a  few  days, 
■without  any  change  in  his  feelings  or  life,  or  any  supposable  reason 
but  the  discovery  that  the  pulpit  opened  a  way  to  popular  applause 
and  distinction,  to  become  a. preacher.  In  due  time,  though  with 
some  difficulty,  he  succeeded  in  entering  the  ministry.  His  course 
was  such  as  might  have  been  looked  for.  As  to  praise,  he  had  his 
reward.  He  was  for  a  season  much  admired.  But  his  career  was, 
as  to  himself,  disastrous ;  as  to  others,  ruinous,  in  proportion  to 
his  influence  over  them.  He  sunk  rapidly  into  merited  contempt; 
and  finally  lost  even  the  crowded  audience,  and  the  public  praises. 
The  day  of  judgment  will  disclose  the  rest  J 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS.  9 

2.  The  next  temptation  against  which  I  would  guard 
you  arises  from  the  present  efforts  to  increase  the  number 
of  candidates  for  the  Gospel  ministry. 

In  former  ages  the  demand  for  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
did  not  outrun  the  supply,  as  it  does  now.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  affecting-,  and  at  the  same  time,  auspicious  signs 
of  the  times  we  live  in,  that  the  world  is  beginning  to 
feel  its  wants ;  and  the  most  important  of  all  the  enter- 
prizes  which  distinguish  the  age,  is  that  which  proposes 
to  train  a  sufficient  number  of  able  and  holy  ministers  to 
supply  these  wants.  But  along  with  these  new  efforts 
to  augment  the  number  of  ministers,  comes  a  train  of 
difficulties  and  temptations.  In  the  urgent  demand  for 
young  men,  it  often  happens  that  zealous,  though  indis- 
creet friends  induce  the  most  unsuitable  persons  to  turn 
their  attention  to  the  sacred  office.  Youth  of  weak 
minds,  who,  though  perhaps  really  pious,  are  utterly 
unfit  for  the  office ;  or  men  of  talents  and  education,  but 
of  shallow  piety  and  of  frothy,  exciteable  feelings;  or  men 
destitute  of  prudence,  good  judgment,  and  common  sense, 
are  thus  often  led  on  to  a  step  full  of  disaster  to  the 
cause  of  Christ,  and  of  misery  to  themselves. 

The  promptness  with  which  candidates  for  the  minis- 
try are  met  by  our  benevolent  societies,  and  the  facihties 
which  they  afford  for  acquiring  an  education,  augment 
the  danger.  A  transition  from  obscure  stations  and 
painful  pursuits  to  a  course  of  study,  and  finally  to  the 
sacred  desk,  will  be  to  many  so  great  and  attractive  a 
change,  as  to  involve  in  it  a  temptation  peculiarly  dan- 
gerous.    And  then,  when  the  course  of  preparation  has 


10  INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS. 

been  begun,  there  is  a  tendency  in  the  best  system  of 
helps,  to  weaken  the  great  principle  of  self-dependence, 
self-effort,  self-support,  and  self-formation,  which  truly 
rests  on  God  alone,  and  is  so  important  an  element  in 
the  character  of  a  Gospel-minister. 

We  speak  of  this  as  a  tendency  and  a  temptation,  not 
as  a  necessary  evil  inseparable  from  this  noble  feature  of 
modern  benevolence.  The  system  is  altogether  indis- 
pensable, and  we  think  it  (though  we  would  suggest  it 
with  diffidence)  as  well  guarded  by  our  own  Board  as 
the  present  light  and  circumstances  of  the  Church  allow.* 

The  course  of  study  required  to  furnish  a  young  man 
for  the  ministry  is  long ;  and  the  unaided  attainment  of 
the  sacred  office  by  an  indigent  youth  is  a  loss  of  time 
to  a  perishing  world.  He  could  work  his  way  through 
an  education  in  twenty  years,  but  we  would  aid  him  to 
do  it  in  ten;  if  he  could  do  it  in  ten  years,  we  would  aid 
him  to  do  it  in  five.  We  propose  to  help  him  to  help 
himself;  to  hasten  his  preparation  without  lowering  his 
principles,  and  thus  accelerate  the  conversion  of  the 
world,  by  putting  able  labourers  into  the  field  in  half  the 
time  that  would  otherwise  be  necessary.  Yet  without 
care,  the  mind  will  learn  to  rest  unduly  on  human  aid ; 
the  eleemosynary  spirit  will  be  fostered,  self-denial  will 
be  discouraged  and  diminished;  and  while  numbers  may 
increase,  men  will  decay. 

*  And  yet  with  much  frankness  we  say, 

"Si  quid  novisti  rectius  igtis 

"  Candidus  imperii :  si  non,  his  utere  mecum." 


INTRODUCTOKY  ADDRESS.  1 1 

While,  therefore,  we  greatly  desire  and  labour  to  aid 
you  in  preparing  for  enlarged  usefulness  in  your  Master's 
kingdom,  we  would  affectionately  guard  you  against  the 
dangers  of  the  way. 

We  would,  inthe  next  place,  guard  you  against  super- 
ficial preparations  for  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

There  is  so  great  a  demand  for  "labourers  in  the  har- 
vest," in  our  day,  that  tlie  first  impulse  of  a  youthful 
mind  is  to  throw  aside  its  books,  and  rush  from  the  place 
of  preparation  and  prayer,  to  the  field  where  souls  are  won, 
and  where  the  Captain  of  our  salvation  is  making  con- 
quest of  a  revolted  world.  But  on  reflection,  it  will  ap- 
pear,  that  the  call  for  labourers  includes,  nay,  presupposes 
their  fitness  for  the  service ;  else,  they  will  not  so  much 
help,  as  hinder  the  work  of  the  Lord.  There  are  said  to 
be  fifty  thousand  men  in  Spain  alone,  who  officially  mi- 
nister in  the  amazing  machinery  of  the  Papacy  !  Yet, 
gross  darkness  covers  the  people.  In  such  a  case,  the 
more,  the  worse ! 

If  the  desire  to  be  useful  overrules  the  duty  to  prepare 
for  it,  then,  in  the  same  degree  is  the  spirit  evil,  vain,  and 
self-deceived.  It  seeks  the  end  without  the  means ;  it  is 
seeking  itself,  and  not  God's  service. 

And  while  the  spirit  is  wrong,  its  effects  are  deeply  to 
be  deplored.  Its  direct  tendency  is  to  make  religious  smat- 
terers  and  empirics.  But  empiricism  is  immoral,  espe- 
cially in  the  great  things  of  God,  where,  without  due 
knowledge,  one  ventures  to  meddle  with  such  momen- 
tous and  eternal  interests.  It  will  probably  be  found, 
that  the  greatest  number  of  those  who  have   rent  the 


12  INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS. 

Church  of  God  by  their  heresies,  and  inflamed  her  by 
their  fanaticism,  have  been  men,  not  only  destitute  of 
piety,  but  defective  in  mental  discipline.  The  tendency 
of  superficial  acquirements,  and  imperfect  discipline  of 
the  mind,  is  to  puff  up,  not  to  humble,  instruct,  and  pu- 
rify. 

In  Paul's  very  comprehensive  description  of  a  bishop's 
character,  (1  Timothy,  iii.  6.)  he  emphatically  forbids 
that  he  should  be  "  a  novice^''''  one  recently  received,  and 
partially  taught ;  "  lest  being  lifted  up  with  pride,  he 
fall  into  the  condemnation  of  the  Devil.'''' 

Deep,  patient,  and  long-continued  culture  is  of  indis- 
pensable use  in  forming  the  mind.  One  of  the  most  un- 
fortunate characteristics  of  modern  education,  is  the  dis- 
position to  save  labour  to  the  student.  Labour-saving 
mechanism  may  do  for  the  economics  of  the  State,  but 
instead  of  calling  out,  it  cripples  the  resources  of  the 
mind. 

But  we  would  also  guard  you  against  superficial  spiri- 
tual, as  well  as  intellectual  cultivation.  As  a  great  fact, 
no  man  can  be  prepared,  even  in  the  lowest  sense,  to 
preach  the  Gospel  successfully  to  others,  who  has  not 
been  deeply  and  patiently  disciplined  himself.  To  this 
end  he  must  have  retirement  and  leisure,  and  daily  sea- 
sons for  meditation  and  prayer,  and  the  devout,  as  well  as 
critical  reading  of  the  word  of  God.  He  must  try,  and 
search,  and  know  himself;  he  must  have  experience  in  the 
duties  and  trials,  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  religion ;  he 
must  cultivate  in  due  proportion,  the  passive  and  re- 
tiring, in  order  to  make  efficient  the  active  and  social 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS.  13 

graces  of  the  Spirit.  He  must  pray  much,  before  he  can 
work  wisely,  and  well.  He  must  cultivate  patience,  if 
he  would  exercise  zeal ;  he  must  acquire  prudence,  if  he 
would  attain  to  holy  courage,  and  Christian  enterprise. 
In  fine,  he  ought  to  be  not  merely  a  real  and  decided, 
but  an  eminently  practical  and  holy  man. 

Now  this,  besides  the  grace  of  God,  which  is  always 
presupposed  requires  not  only  good  opportunities,  but 
much  time  ;  and  he  who  precipitates  himself  without  due 
training  into  the  Ministry,  will  find,  (or  the  world  will 
find  for  him)  when  it  is  too  late  to  repair  the  evil,  that 
in  his  office,  he  is  a  driveller  ;  in  usefulness,  a  child  ;  and 
it  will  be  well  for  him  if,  in  that  day  which  shall  judge 
the  secrets  of  all  hearts,  he  hear  not  the  terrible  rebuke 
of  an  angry  God:  "  What  hadst  thou  to  do  to  declare  my 
statutes,  seeing  thou  hast  hated  instruction  1  Who  hath 
required  this  at  thy  hand  ?" 

Our  next  hint  or  caution  refers  to  the  temptations  coji- 
nected  with  the  choice  of  a  Jield  of  labour. 

As  you  are  only  candidates  for  the  Ministry,  and  most 
of  you,  perhaps,  several  j^ears  removed  from  the  actual 
labours  of  that  great  office,  it  may  at  first  view  seem 
premature  to  address  you  now  on  this  subject.  When 
you  reflect,  however,  that  your  future  choice,  though  dis- 
tant, will  be  very  much  controlled  by  the  views  and  feel- 
ings formed  during  the  preparatory  course,  an  early  sur- 
vey of  the  whole  field,  and  a  timely  weighing  of  the 
principles  on  which  a  selection  is  to  be  made,  will  appear 
to  be  of  vital  importance.  Most  young  men  decide  upon 
the  field  of  labour  long  before  they  begin  to  preach.    For 


14  INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS. 

example,  they  decide  commonly,  whether  or  not  they 
will  go  abroad  :  whether,  if  at  home,  they  will  devote 
themselves  to  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  or  that  of  a  pas- 
tor :  and  if  to  the  latter,  whether  they  will  seek  the  self- 
denying  fields  where  the  domestic  missionary  penetrates 
the  wilderness,  and  amidst  mai:iy  toils  lays  the  founda- 
tion of  future  Churches,  or  prefer  building  on  another 
man's  foundation,  made  ready  to  their  hand. 

As  their  previous  decision,  so  frequently  forecloses  a 
choice  at  the  time  of  assuming  the  office  of  a  minister, 
so  it  is  most  desirable  to  anticipate,  and,  if  possible,  right- 
ly direct  it  now.  It  is  highly  proper  also,  that  the  rela- 
tive claims  of  fields  of  labour  should  be  early  and  dis- 
tinctly before  your  minds,  because  there  is,  even  at  this 
late  day,  a  very  distorted  and  sometimes  criminal  method 
of  comparing  these  claims.  And  the  misguided  affection 
of  friends  often  conspires  with  a  young  man's  love  of 
honour  or  of  ease,  to  seduce  him  from  the  way  in  which 
he  should  go.  Look,  for  illustration,  to  the  present  state 
of  the  world.  For  every  soul  in  our  country,  there  are 
now  in  heathen  lands  fitly  souls :  while  those  at  home 
have  all  heard  the  Gospel,  or  might  have  heard  it — those 
abroad  have  no  possible  access  to  it :  and  now  the  door 
is  open,  or  opening  every  where,  even  in  China  with  her 
300,000,000  of  heathen,  to  the  labours  of  the  missionary, 
and  from  every  part  of  the  world  the  cry  meets  upon  our 
country  to  send  them  help.  And  yet  among  the  succes- 
sive hundreds  of  young  men  who  are  from  year  to 
year  entering  the  Ministry,  hov>r  many  are  there  who 
devote  themselves  to  the  foreign  service  ?     For  one  that 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS.  15 

goes  abroad,  fifty  stay  at  home ;  yet  if  for  every  one 
that  stays  at  home,  fifty  went  abroad,  the  proportion 
would  not  be  in  excess  of  the  relative  claims.  After  mak- 
ing- every  jusl  allowance  for  the  duty  of  sustaining  and 
extending  religion  at  home,  is  it  not  evidently  then  a 
glaring  crime  in  the  Church  of  God,  and  in  her  minis- 
tering sons  especially,  thus  calmly  to  sit  down  at  home, 
in  despite  of  the  last,  the  great  command  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  in  full  view  of  600,000,000  of  men  crying  for  suc- 
cour, and  perishing  in  sin  !  Surely,  there  is  amazing 
guilt  somewhere  !  And  where  so  certainly  and  so  dread- 
ful, as  with  the  ministers  of  Christ !  You  are  on  the 
way  to  be  ministers  of  Christ.  The  fault  of  your  prede- 
cessors, may,  yes,  beloved  youth,  will  soon  be  yours,  if 
you  pursue  their  course ;  and  it  will  be  greater  guilt,  as 
your  light  is  greater.  Beware,  therefore,  of  every  temp- 
tation to  slight  the  consideration  and  undervalue  the 
claims,  of  Foreign  Missions.*  These  temptations  are 
numerous  and  strong.  Tread  them  under  your  feet, 
looking  unto  Jesus.  Lift  up  your  souls  to  the  great- 
ness of  the  subject.  Bid  the  love  of  ease  to  die  with- 
in you.  Bid  holy  pity  rise  and  reign  in  your  dedi- 
cated hearts.  Say  to  every  allurement,  "  Get  thee  be- 
hind me,  Satan."  Let  the  entire  world  be  your  field. 
Be  willing  to  go  any  where  :  be  ready  to  do  any  work  to 
which  your  Master  calls  you.  Open  your  heart  to  him, 
and  beseech  him  continually  to  baptize  it  in  the  Mission- 
ary Spirit.     Then  great  numbers  will  go  abroad  at  his 

*  The  articles  on  the  claims  of  Foreign  Missions,  in  the  follow- 
ing work,  are  of  great  value  and  peculiar  fitness. 


16  INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS. 

evident  call.  Then,  whether  you  stay  at  home,  or  go 
abroad,  the  world  will  still  be  your  field,  and  its  redemp- 
tion your  great  absorbing  end  ! 

The  same  train  of  remark  may  be  pursued  in  refer- 
ence to  the  relative  claims  of  the  domestic  field,  suppos- 
ing it  your  duty  to  remain  at  home.  Seek  not  distinction, 
but  the  glory  of  God ;  not  honour,  but  good-doing ;  not 
ease,  but  duty,  with  the  cross.  As  for  the  love  of 
money,  that  vile  idolatry,  let  it  never  be  named  by  you, 
but  to  be  hated  and  shunned.  And  let  these  principles 
take  early  hold  and  deep  root  in  your  souls,  so  that  they 
shall  become  habitual,  and  reign  in  all  your  decisions, 
and  all  your  actions. 

We  pass  to  mention,  Jifthly,  the  temptation  to  disesteem 
the  peculiar  institutions  and  standards  of  your  own 
Church. 

This  would  be  a  most  unfit  suggestion  to  be  associated 
with  that  on  which  we  have  just  been  dwelling,  if  the 
intention  were  to  hold  up  and  recommend  to  you  the 
spirit  of  sectarism,  as  distinguished  from  that  of  (pro- 
perly called)  catholic  love  and  peace ;  or  the  spirit  of 
party  as  distinguished  from  the  harmonious  feeling  and 
action  of  our  own  Church.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  do  this. 
We  are  Presbyterians,  not  in  the  spirit  of  exclusion,  but 
of  conscientious  preference.  We  venerate  and  sustain 
our  ecclesiastical  standards,  because  they  appear  to  us  to 
be  true  and  right,  and  therefore,  on  us  binding.  None 
but  religious  free-thinkers,  or  men  who  do  not  tliink  at 
all,  reject  wholly,  all  formularies  and  symbols  of  faitli. 
It  is,  however,  at  present  a  great  evil  in  our  Church,  that 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS.  17 

the  standards  of  faith,  by  which  we  declare  our  opinions 
of  the  true  import  of  the  word  of  God,  have  been  permitted 
to  pass  into  so  great  desuetude  in  the  instruction  of  youth. 
This  has  arisen  simultaneously  with  a  spirit  (character- 
istic of  the  age)  which,  in  its  haste  to  improve  all  things, 
indiscriminately  rejects  the  good  with  the  evil,  proscribes 
what  is  old,  however  perfect,  and  seeks  to  be  free  from 
the  salutary  restraints  of  order  and  of  law.  The  spirit 
of  a  former  age  was  to  repress  improvement,  to  repose 
upon  mere  authority,  and  to  perpetuate  the  faults  and 
errors  of  antiquity.  The  tendency  now  is,  to  licentious 
innovation,  and  boundless  change,  as  if  radical  revo- 
lution were  inseparable  from  reform,  or  as  if  the  pro- 
per remedy  of  one  vice  were  the  unbridled  indulgence 
of  another  and  an  opposite  vice.  Under  this  evil  in- 
fluence, all  that  constitutes  the  expression  of  our  doc- 
trines and  polity  as  a  Church,  has  been  disesteemed, 
and  its  goodly  power  impaired.  We  would  point  you  to 
this  seducing  evil,  and  warn  you  against  it.  You  are  yet 
young.  We  know  that  your  views  are  immature,  though 
we  trust  they  are  established,  and  have  been  adopted  on 
principle.  We  ask  you  to  inquire,  to  think,  to  search, 
and  know.  But  how  can  you  do  this  without  a  faithful 
and  patient  examination  of  the  standards  of  the  Church? 
Honest  and  prayerful  inquiry,  a  Christian  student's 
familiarity  with  them,  is  what  true  honour  and  conscience 
on  your  part,  demand,  and  what,  far  from  fearing,  we 
earnestly  invite.  If,  after  due  inquiry,  you  are  con- 
firmed in  your  principles  and  regards,  then  be  an  honest 
Presbyterian,  v.'hich  we  believe  to  be  the  best  form  of  a 
B  2 


18  INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS. 

Christian  man  and  minister.  If,  however,  your  convic- 
tions lead  you  to  the  rejection  of  our  faith  or  our  poHty,  be 
honest  still ;  with  manly  freedom  make  it  known ;  and 
with  Christian  consistency,  join  yourselves  with  that  peo- 
ple whose  principles  you  hold.  Unless  you  shall  reject  the 
cardinal  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  which  unite  all  God's 
people  in  one  universal  Church,  we  shall  still  love  you, 
and  pray  for  you,  and  respect  you  more  than  if  you  had 
chosen,  for  whatever  reason,  to  sustain  a  relation  which 
Christian  honesty  forbade. 

We  next  suggest  a  caution  on  the  delicate  but  import- 
ant subject  of  your  intercourse  with  society  at  large,  espe- 
cially your  intercourse  with  females. 

Much  intercourse  with  society  at  large,  is  utterly  in- 
consistent with  the  spirit  and  pursuits  of  a  candidate  for 
the  Christian  ministry.  The  Christian  minister  himself 
cannot  bear  it,  either  in  his  reputation  or  his  heart,  ex- 
cept as  it  is  connected  with  his  official  duties ;  still  less 
is  it  safe  or  becoming  for  a  student  of  theology. 

But  there  is  a  degree  of  intercourse  which  is  amiable, 
necessary,  and  of  mutual  advantage  to  the  student  and 
his  friends.  A  rude  and  ill-behaved  minister  or  candi- 
date, departs  as  much  from  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  as 
he  does  from  the  decencies  of  a  gentleman.  He  who 
has  commanded  us  to  be  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversa- 
tion and  godliness,  has  also  required  that  we  be  gentle 
towards  all  men ;  that  we  be  kindly  affectioned,  be  pitiful, 
be  courteous  :  in  honour  preferring,  and  in  love  serving 
one  another ;  and  ever  wearing  the  ornament  of  a  meek 
and  quiet  spirit.  Hence,  every  Christian  ought  to  be  not 
in  the  spirit  of  Chesterfield,  but  of  Paul,  a  gentleman. 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS.  19 

But  while  relig-ion  is  oflcn  sorely  wounded,  and  the 
influence  of  young  men  greatly  impaired  by  an  unsocial 
spirit,  or  a  want  of  propriety  and  refinement  of  behaviour, 
the  evils  resulting  from  social  habits  and  familiar  inter- 
course, are  so  many  and  great,  that  we  have  been  ready 
to  suppose  that  secluded  spots,  from  which  students  could 
only  come  forth  for  works  of  mercy,  and  return,  were  on 
the  whole,  safest,  and  therefore  best.  These  evils  we 
cannot  here  enumerate.  There  is  one,  however,  of  most 
delicate  nature,  on  which  we  feel  it  very  important  to 
comment.  It  results  from  intercourse  with  young  fe- 
males.  No  reference  is,  of  course,  had  to  gay  and  giddy 
females,  who  can  have  no  charms  for  a  godly  young  mar?, 
and  the  effect  of  whose  intercourse  would  be,  to  excite 
regret  and  pity  alone.  Nor  do  we  at  all  embrace  in  our  re- 
marks that  indiscreet  dalliance,  sometimes  indulged  in 
fashionable  life,  which  originates  in  youthful  imprudence, 
and  continually  exposes  to  the  formation  of  unhappy  al- 
liances for  life.  These  are  far  beneath  the  range  of  a 
good  man's  habits,  and  he  who  is  caught  in  such  a  snare 
is  out  of  place  even  as  a  layman.  We  mean  the  dangers 
resulting  from  the  intimacy  of  candidates  for  the  ministry 
with  worthy  and  serious  young  females,  and  tending  to 
the  production  of  unsuitable  attachments,  and  precipitate 
engagements.  You  have  this  advantage,  (or  rather  shall 
we  not  call  it  in  your  situation,  evil,)  that  your  character 
precludes  all  suspicion  of  your  motives;  and  to  religious 
intercourse,  a  less  sacred  and  more  personal  train  of 
emotions,  may  readily  succeed.     Hence  we  find,  that 


20  INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS. 

what  began  in  Christian  kindness,  with  no  design  of  mu- 
tual impression,  or  committal,  ends  apace  in  permanent 
and  often  most  injurious  entanglements.  Now  consider 
for  a  moment  your  circumstances.  You  are  young,  you 
are  indigent,  you  have,  perhaps,  several  years  of  study 
before  you,  your  character  is  unformed,  you  are  ignorant 
of  the  world ;  you  know  not  where  you  are  to  live,  nor 
how  you  are  to  be  occupied ;  you  know  not  whether  it 
will  be  proper  or  possible  for  you  to  marry,  or  if  it  be 
both,  what  style  of  woman  will  suit  your  taste,  and  your 
habits,  your  defects,  your  field  of  labour,  or  your  possi- 
ble condition  in  future  years.  Your  present  affections 
may  entirely  change,  and  the  consummation  of  your  pre- 
sent fond  hopes  may,  in  your  own  best  judgment,  a  few 
years  hence,  be  the  greatest  calamity  of  life.  It  may  be 
your  duty  to  become  a  foreign  missionary ;  a  rash  step 
now  may  render  it  impossible  for  you  to  do  so !  The 
destiny  of  a  distant  generation  or  of  a  whole  people,  may, 
in  some  measure,  be  suspended  upon  your  wisdom  and 
prudence  now,  in  this  respect ;  and  there  may  be  no  end 
to  the  evil  consequences  of  a  single  rash  step.  We  have 
known  one  most  affecting  illustration  of  this,  some  of 
whose  disastrous  results  are  now  passing  before  the  eye 
of  the  Church.  Again,  the  woman  who  will  regard  with 
favour  your  present  advances,  will  hardly  be  your  equal 
at  the  completion  of  your  course  of  study,  or  be  adapted 
to  fill  tlie  station  for  which  you  may  be  preparing.  We 
allude,  in  this  remark,  to  the  qualifications,  and  acquire- 
ments, which  are  known  to  be  so  important  to  a  preach- 
er's  wife,  and  not  to  personal  merit.    And  on  her  part  too, 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS.  21 

a  reciprocal  change  of  feeling  may  occur,  or  a  corres- 
ponding disappointment  in  the  formation  of  your  future 
character.  If,  however,  from  any,  or  all  these  causes,  on 
either  her  part  or  yours,  a  consummation  of  your  en- 
gagement  should  prove  undesirable,  and  yet  be  required 
by  honour  and  good  faith,  how  wretched  will  be  your  con- 
dition. God  regards  such  a  contract  as  a  virtual  mar- 
riage.  See  how  Joseph  viewed  it  in  the  case  of  Mary, 
(Mark  i.  18 — 19).  The  minister  who  trifles  with  such 
sacred  obligations,  deserves  to  be  deposed:  the  candi- 
date, to  be  disgraced,  and  given  up.  And  yet  how  mise- 
rable will  it  be  to  sacrifice  your  peace  and  usefulness  in 
redeeming  a  pledge,  over  v.'hich  riper  years  and  estab- 
lished affections  must  mourn  for  life.  The  alternative 
is  dishonour  or  misery.  Then  be  warned  to  shun  the 
necessity  of  such  a  dilemma,  by  a  holy  watchfulness  and 
discretion  now. 

Tke  last  temptation  {omitting  others)  against  ichich  we 
would  guard  you,  is  the  tendency  of  studious  habits  to  de- 
stroy health. 

We  do  not  mean  that  this  tendency  is  necessary,  for  if 
so,  it  would  be  useless  to  warn  you.  But  it  is  so  com- 
mon and  so  injurious  a  fault,  that  it  deserves  in  this  place 
a  special  notice. 

Your  body,  as  much  as  your  soul,  is  the  property  and 
the  servant  of  God.  You  have  no  more  riglit  to  destroy 
the  one  than  the  other  ;  and  God  will  not  hold  him  guilt- 
less, who,  by  neglect  or  injurious  use,  shall  contribute  to 
that  end,  even  in  a  remote  result.  It  is  true,  you  may 
thus  injure  your  health,  and  yet  save  your  soul.  But 
though  the  salvation  of  your  own  soul  be  not  suspended 


22  INTRODUCTORY  ADDRES3. 

on  the  proper  preservation  of  your  natural  liie,  that  of 
others,  perhaps,  in  great  numbers  may  be.  No  man  of 
impaired  health  can  be  so  useful  in  the  Ministry,  as  he 
would  be  if  he  were  in  the  possession  of  a  sound  and 
vigorous  constitution.  His  mind  is  weakened ;  his  piety 
is  impaired,  and  his  labours  are  not  only  lessened  in 
amount,  but  in  excellence  also.  Sometimes,  indeed,  we 
see  a  Baxter  or  an  Owen,  rising  by  the  grace  of  God  su- 
perior to  every  infirmity,  and  through  agonies  of  pain 
accomplishing  the  most  extraordinary  labours.  But  it 
was  in  spite  of  frailty,  and  not  in  consequence  of  it;  and 
while  they  did  more,  with  all  their  infirmities,  than  most 
men  have  done  without  them,  yet,  comparing  them  with 
themselves,  what  might  they  not  have  accomplished,  if 
their  gigantic  minds  and  noble  piety  had  been  sustained 
and  prolonged  below,  by  a  corresponding  frame-work  of 
the  natural  man  ? 

We  said  that  bad  health  was  not  a  necessary  attend- 
ant on  a  life  of  study.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  temperate  and  judicious  habits  of  study  are 
conducive  to  health.  But  most  young  men,  especially 
those  who  have  not  been  inured  to  confinement  and  se- 
vere thought  in  early  life,  are  continually  in  danger  of  a 
sort  of  suicide.  Without  having  space  to  prescribe  rules 
for  the  preservation  of  your  health,  we  Vv^ish  to  impress 
it  on  your  minds  and  hearts,  that  it  is  a  great  sin  to  jeo- 
pard or  lessen  your  future  usefulness,  by  inattention  to 
diet,  exercise,  and  whatever  is  necessary  to  a  Christian 
care  of  it.* 

•  We  had  intended  to  embrace  in  the  present  volume,  an  article 
especially  devoted  to  this  subject,  but  are  reluctantly  compelled  to 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS.  23 

The  neglect  of  tins  great  duty,  always  criminal,  has 
become  peculiarly  so  of  late,  from  the  frequency  and 
force  with  which  it  has  been  exposed,  from  the  light 
which  has  been  struck  out  on  the  subject,  and  the  cor- 
responding  helps  furnished  for  the  preservation  of  health. 

This  subject  especially  recommends  itself  to  the  re- 
gards and  consciences  of  generous  and  independent 
youth,  who  are  nobly  struggling  on  in  the  strength  of 
their  divine  Lord,  and  by  the  kind  care  of  the  Christian 
Church,  into  the  work  of  the  ministry.  For  there  is  this 
happy  feature  in  the  modern  system  of  manual  labour, 
connected  with  education,  that  while  the  daily  exercise 
preserves  the  health  of  the  student,  it  contributes  also  to 
the  means  of  his  support,  and  creates  a  new  capital  for 
the  service  of  God.  In  the  infancy  of  this  system,  de- 
fects are  to  be  expected.  But  it  has  triumphantly  illus- 
trated its  practicability  and  unbounded  importance,  and 
is  destined,  we  cannot  doubt,  to  do  more  for  the  world, 
especially  for  our  own  countrj',  and  above  all  for  the  mi- 
nistry, than  we  could  now  express,  without  becom inn- 
liable  to  the  charge  of  extravagance. 

Wc  only  add,  that  the  labours  of  tJie  present  and  the 
coming  age,  call  for  men.  This  is  the  way  to  form  them. 
It  is  time  that  the  halls  of  science  were  divorced  from 
the  premature  old  age,  and  manifold  imbecilities  which 

defer  it  until  the  appearance  of  the  next.  With  some  small  quali- 
fications, not  affecting  the  merits  of  the  work,  we  earnestly  re- 
commend to  your  attentive  persual  and  practical  adoption,  tlie  very 
timely  and  excellent  work  of  Professor  Hitchcock,  entitled  "  Uijs^ 
pepsij  Forestalled,-^  Sec. 


24  INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS. 

have  so  long  and  so  needlessly  infested  them.  It  is  tune 
that  men  of  nerve  and  hardihood,  with  bodies  fit  to  hear 
about  the  souls  of  missionaries  and  martyrs,  should  be 
poured  forth  from  all  the  institutions  of  our  country,  to 
help  in  the  conversion  of  a  ruined  world. 

Such,  then,  are  a  few  of  the  leading  temptations  to 
wiiich  you  will  be  exposed  in  your  course  of  preparation 
for  the  Gospel  Ministry.  May  the  God  of  heaven  guard 
you  against  their  seducing  power,  and  give  you  a  con- 
tinued triumph  over  them  1 

We  had  intended  to  state  at  some  length,  in  the  second 
place.  The  incentives  and  sup2)orts  proper  to  your  circum- 
stances and  pursuits.  But  space  is  wanting ;  and  we 
must  delay  the  presenting  of  these  considerations  for  a 
future  volume. 

In  closing  this  address  we  only  add,  that  the  freedom 
and  directness  of  the  above  remarks  are  justified  on  the 
grounds  that  they  are  true;  that  the  warnings  which 
they  convey,  are  highly  important ;  and  that  having  no 
secreta  jnonita  to  give,  we  deal  with  you  in  the  candor 
and  love  of  honest  and  deeply  attached  friends,  address- 
ing ingenuous  youth,  Vv-ho  have  nothing  to  conceal,  but 
what  they  have  also  at  the  same  time  to  abandon.  There- 
fore, seeing  that  both  you  and  we  must  give  account  unto 
God,  we  use  great  plainness  of  speech. 

Most  truly,  your  Brpther  and  Friend, 

JOHN  BRECKINRIDGE,  Corr.  Sec. 

Philadelphia,  Office  of  Board  of  Education,  ^ 
November  1st,  1832.  S 


*  -<  ^, 


